This little step stool was a Goodwill find. $5.00 How could I pass that up? Real wood - fairly flat surface - required very little to prepare it for painting - could be functional...
Not that it ended up being functional beyond a display item. It's strong enough to use as a real step stool, but I'm a lot shorter than this stool can help... I need something at least 3 feet high to get me to the top of my cupboards. But decorative is a function, right? Right. Glad you agree with me. lol
So I decided that if I still had a horse (sold her due to $$$ involved for boarding and maintenance) that I would have used this as a mounting block. I still would have to reach for the stirrup quite a ways - but it would be better than trying to stick my knee next to my ear. (I had a very tall mare, and I have short legs). :/ Anyway, I found dozens of awesome logos online that pertained to horses and finally decided to half-modify one for my own.
Not that it ended up being functional beyond a display item. It's strong enough to use as a real step stool, but I'm a lot shorter than this stool can help... I need something at least 3 feet high to get me to the top of my cupboards. But decorative is a function, right? Right. Glad you agree with me. lol
So I decided that if I still had a horse (sold her due to $$$ involved for boarding and maintenance) that I would have used this as a mounting block. I still would have to reach for the stirrup quite a ways - but it would be better than trying to stick my knee next to my ear. (I had a very tall mare, and I have short legs). :/ Anyway, I found dozens of awesome logos online that pertained to horses and finally decided to half-modify one for my own.
Awesome drawing by unknown artist.
The horse was an awesome drawing (unknown artist) of a Pegasus, with only one wing showing. I flipped the original picture, printed it twice, cut the wing off of one pic and flipped that, then attached it to balance the logo out. The words Pegasus Equestrian Center was a font I downloaded for free, and a business name I just made up.
While I was busy looking for a logo - I took the entire stool apart and worked on sanding all the pieces. My plan was to stain it after painting the logo on the top. To make sure the legs went back into place with minimum effort I kept all the pieces in the order that I had taken them off.
I brought the top into the house to paint, after I'd sanded it all down. Even though I made a couple of modifications to the original Pegasus drawing (I liked it with a bit more wing coming from behind) I still don't take credit for this awesome picture - I copied it plain and simple. I wish I could draw like that but I'm not creative that way.
I do my art on living creatures, which you can check out on my Before Afters Dog Grooming Page.
I used my Graphite Paper Transfer method to get the logo onto the wood. Then started painting.
I do my art on living creatures, which you can check out on my Before Afters Dog Grooming Page.
I used my Graphite Paper Transfer method to get the logo onto the wood. Then started painting.
I know I have a few more photos of the in progress of this... I just can't seem to locate them at the time of this writing. But when I do, I'll be sure to upload them and update this page.
After I painted the top, but before I stained it - I put it all back together. My husband helped me on that because it needed gluing to make it strong enough to actually work as a step stool. We used Gorilla Glue - not just standard wood glue - because Gorilla Glue swells after it dries. It sorta grows like a sponge. It always ends up bigger than you think it's going to - so when you use it, use it sparingly.
It has a tendency to squirt out of the area you've put it in and when it dries it's an ugly orange-y color, all hard and unsightly around the joint. But once it's all dry you can chip it off with just a not-too-sharp object (putty knife, screwdriver - I wouldn't use a sharp knife or box cutter because you might slip and ruin your wood project).
I know I have pictures of that too lol can't find those either! grrrrr darn me and my dis-organizational ways.
So - here it is - before / after. It's still shiny in the last photo because I took the photo right after I poly'd it and it's still wet. You can read about what polyurethane I like to use on my Stains and Polyurethane page.
After I painted the top, but before I stained it - I put it all back together. My husband helped me on that because it needed gluing to make it strong enough to actually work as a step stool. We used Gorilla Glue - not just standard wood glue - because Gorilla Glue swells after it dries. It sorta grows like a sponge. It always ends up bigger than you think it's going to - so when you use it, use it sparingly.
It has a tendency to squirt out of the area you've put it in and when it dries it's an ugly orange-y color, all hard and unsightly around the joint. But once it's all dry you can chip it off with just a not-too-sharp object (putty knife, screwdriver - I wouldn't use a sharp knife or box cutter because you might slip and ruin your wood project).
I know I have pictures of that too lol can't find those either! grrrrr darn me and my dis-organizational ways.
So - here it is - before / after. It's still shiny in the last photo because I took the photo right after I poly'd it and it's still wet. You can read about what polyurethane I like to use on my Stains and Polyurethane page.
